One of the last celebrity babies of the year, Baby Boy Bundchen Brady, spent his first ten days of life much the way one of 2009’s first celebrity babies did: without a name.

Born December 8, the infant son of supermodel Gisele Bundchen and quarterback Tom Brady went home from the hospital without a name.  And at over a week old, he remained nameless.   Finally, last Friday, the name was announced: Benjamin.

“We thought we had a name picked for about six months, and then, about two days before he was born she said, ‘I don’t like that name any more,’” Brady said. “So, it was kind of back to the drawing board.”

Tom and Gisele would find plenty of company on the nameberry forums, from parents who find themselves gripped by second thoughts a day or two after baby’s birth to couples who are unable to settle on the right name months after their child has been born.

What’s the problem?  For some couples, it’s simply getting up to the decisive moment and finding you’re still…..undecided.  For others, the name they picked out – Jasper, say – turns out not to fit the child who looks a lot more like a Jack, or maybe a Nathaniel, or wait a minute, what about Zane?

Some couples proudly announce their name decision upon their baby’s birth, only to be greeted by so much criticism from friends and family that they’re unable to sign the birth certificate.  Other parents find the name discussions that entertained them throughout pregnancy hardening into serious disagreements once it’s actually time to make a decision.

One mom who wrote to us recently described a situation that’s distressingly common: Simply never finding a name you really love.  You might have a list of a dozen you think are okay, but not a single choice that leaps out and says, I’m the one.

And of course, if you’re a celebrity, the whole world is watching and waiting for the name announcement, ready to pounce with opinions and criticism.

Last January, Jennifer Garner and Ben Affleck waited more than a week before announcing the name of their second daughter, ending up with the gorgeous Seraphina Rose Elizabeth, chosen by nameberry visitors as the Best Celebrity Baby Girls’ Name of the year.

So did it take them that long to come up with such a lovely choice?  Were they confused?  Stumped for ideas?

None of the above, said 95 percent of respondents to a nameberry poll, who said theybelieved Ben and Jen had already settled on a name but were keeping it to themselves. Most seemed to think the celebrity parents were just preserving a moment of privacy, but 17 percent took the cynical view that delaying the name announcement was a ploy to maximize publicity.

Celebrity baby names certainly have garnered their parents a measure of attention in recent years. That’s not to say we think most Hollywood parents choose unusual baby names for their publicity value: actors are, after all, creative people living in a style-conscious world. But it’s hard not to view some celebrity baby names — Penn Jillette’s Moxie Crimefighter, say, or Jason Lee’s Pilot Inspektor — as ploys for exposure.

Yet Jason Lee has still not announced the name of his second child, born in August 2008. Perhaps he was surprised by the negative attention Pilot Inspektor attracted and wants to protect his child, or himself, from ridicule?  And Holly Hunter still has not announced the names of her twins, now bound for kindergarten.  Maybe she doesn’t want to be more famous for her child’s name than for her work? Maybe Lee and Hunter want their privacy after all?

Or maybe they, along with Jen and Ben and Gisele and Tom, have come to feel that a name is not an accessory, like a pair of cute little shoes, to be held up for admiration or criticism. Maybe they feel, as many people have for centuries, that a name embodies their darling child’s identity, even their soul. And that’s not something they’re in a rush to share with the world.

Just a few years ago, it might have been fair to say that Winter was the season least friendly to names, while now it seems to offer the newest choices for the adventurous baby namer.   Why?  Two reasons:  Nicole Richie choosing Winter as one of the middle names for her high-profile little girl Harlow, and January Jones, beauteous star of noteworthy new show Mad Men.

WINTER is the season name that’s seen the least amount of use over the years, yet one that holds the most potential for boys as well as girls.  Variations include WINTERS, WYNTER, and (please don’t) WINTR.  Translations of the seasonal name include the French Hiver (pronounced ee-vair), Italian INVERNO, and in Spanish, INVIERNO.   In Dutch and German, it’s still Winter and and in Swedish, the comical-sounding (to the English speaker’s ear) VINTER.

In mythology, winter was said to be caused by DEMETER in grief over the loss of her daughter PERSEPHONE, consigned forever to the underworld (but rising again as a baby name, with or without the pronunciation of the final long e).

DECEMBER, still a highly unusual month name yet certainly a usable one, means ten.  Other versions you may want to consider: DECIMA, name of the Roman goddess of childbirth; DECEMBRA, DECIMUS, or DECIO.  December’s flower is the narcissus or holly, suggesting the names NARCISSA (difficult at best) and HOLLY (already a bit worn at the edges).  December gem TURQUOISE can work as a name, as can AQUA or its Turkish equivalent FAIRUZA.   Red, however, seems more suitable as December’s color, which leads you to a whole spectrum of great names, from SCARLETT to CRIMSON to RUFUS and RORY.

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We talk a lot about the influence of celebrity baby names on the general population of baby namers, but just how potent is that influence in actuality?  I thought it might be useful to  take a closer look at some celebrity choices and see if there was some way to quantify their impact.

Of course there are, inevitably, other factors involved in whether celebrity baby names become popular.  For instance, how high-profile is this celeb and how much has her child been seen in the media?  What are other influences surrounding  the name?  A popular character in a movie or TV show?  Is this a name that would have risen anyway, just as part of the zeitgeist or is it one that was never—or hardly ever—even heard before?  Is  it a vintage name that had been stored in the attic until it was brought out and sprinkled with some stardust?

Here are a few specific examples, giving the child’s and his or her celebrity parent’s name, the year of birth, and where the name ranked before, during and after its arrival.

AVA is an interesting case.  Previously seen as an outdated, elderlyish name, it first showed signs of a revival when used by Aidan Quinn in 1989, but he didn’t seem to have the voltage to elevate the name above the 800’s on the Social Security list.  Next came Heather Locklear, a major TV star at the time of her Ava’s birth in 1997: the name subsequently rose from #737 in 1995 to 259 in 1999.  But it was following the more highly publicized arrival of Reese Witherspoon and Ryan Phillippe’s Ava-named daughter in 1999 that the name shot up to #133 two years later—and then all the way to #5 (and probably rising) last year.

HAZEL was another name that seemed to have little potential for a comeback when chosen by Julia Roberts for one of her twins in 2004.  It wasn’t even on the list in 1997, was at 681 when little Hazel Moder was born, but had risen to 359 three years later.

IRELAND is a clear-cut example of a name created by the celebrity culture, as it was unheard of when the daughter of Kim Basinger and Alec Baldwin was born in 1995—a time when place names were heating up.  By last year, there were more baby girls named Ireland than there were named Tess, Tia or Tanya.

JADEN is another proof of the Starbaby Effect.  The son of Jada Pinkett and Will Smith was given this spin on the biblical Jadon in 1998, when it ranked #328; five years later it had zoomed to #82.  Jaden’s sister Willow’s name is also on the rise.

JAYDEN.  This spelling was already quite trendy when Britney Spears and Kevin Federline picked it for their son in 2006, but the maelstrom of  publicity swirling around Britney and her boys surely contributed to this version of the name reaching its current standing of  #11. (more…)

The biggest baby name news of 2009 was Emma’s rise to the number one spot for girls’ names, becoming only the ninth girls’ name in U.S. history to claim first place.

EMMA unseated EMILY, which slipped to number three, after a 12-year-reign.  ISABELLA moved up to number two, but if taken together with sister ISABEL and ISABELLE, would have been the number one name.

On the boys’ side, the name that would be number one if the Social Security Administration counted all spelling variations together was AIDEN (and AIDAN and AYDEN, et al), which taken together account for more boys than received longtime number one name JACOB.

The only new entry to the girls’ Top Ten was CHLOE, replacing Hannah.  The boys’ Top Ten remained the same.

The names making the fastest leaps up the popularity ladder showed a strong celebrity influence, especially for girls.  The Top Ten Fastest Movers for girls were:

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The celebrity baby-naming year got off to an exciting start with the birth of Jennifer Garner and Ben Affleck’s second daughter, whose name remained a mystery for more than a week.

When it was finally announced, it was so surprising and lovely that it made the long wait worthwhile: SERAPHINA ROSE ELIZABETH, a shoo-in for one of the Best Celebrity Baby Names of the year.

Our other nominees for Best Celebrity Baby Girl Name:

MABEL PAINTER – Chad Lowe’s little girl’s name is a charming, quirky vintage choice, with an original artistic middle name from the hot occupational genre.

HELENA GRACE – The classic Helena is a name just emerging from the attic, chosen by Gossip Girl’s Kelly Rutherford.  Its originality makes up for the lovely yet somewhat standard-issue Grace in the middle place.

PALOMA LOUISE – Ana Ortiz chose this exotic-yet-familiar name for her daughter, with the original Louise, tres chic in Paris, in the middle.

PHOEBE MARGARET – Phoebe is a mythological and biblical name that’s newly finding favor, chosen for her newborn daughter by Julianne Nicholson.

For boys, our nominees for Best Name are:

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